Karatza, Rallou (1778–1830)

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Karatza, Rallou (1778–1830)

Greek theater producer and freedom fighter. Born 1778 in Walachia, Romania (belonging to the Ottoman Empire of which Greece was a part); died 1830; dau. of a Greek prince.

Was the 1st Greek woman to organize her own theater group, recruiting actors to Walachia from the Greek School in Bucharest; became a member of the secret society "Philiki Etaireia" which organized the Greeks to fight against the Turks, and began presenting revolutionary plays espousing freedom, helping to raise the political fervor among the Greeks that led to the uprising of 1821.